Was present for a cracking sermon delivered by a deacon under the watchful eye of the parish priest last night. The message centered around the devil. Start of lent seemed like a good time to remind everyone that temptation and traps set by the devil are everywhere. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex and pornography all got a mention.

And for anyone who thinks the devil is the bad guy in a fairytale then think again. The deacon studied in southern France in the diocesan college which specialises in exorcisms. He was part of a 4-man exorcism team (in charge of strapping the legs and holding them down, with two other fellas responsible for an arm each along with the main lad doing the talking bit) and he saw the devil being dragged/teased/persuaded out of people’s bodies.

Plenty of chatter in the church yard afterwards about whether the young deacon had been watching too many horror films or, worse again, some of that pornography he warned against what with all the strapping arms and holding down legs etc.

The Tuam babies scandal recalled a more callous Ireland we thought we had left far behind, but as late as 1990 children from the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home were still being buried in unmarked graves, writes Conall Ó Fátharta